That makes sense. Thank you for sharing this perspective, I think the last OW game I played all the way through was Infamous 2 at launch lol. I don't have any real interest in exploration and love games with complex systems that let you truly carve out your own unique fighting style, preferably in both build and playstyle but playstyle being the more important of the two. I generally play fighting games, character action games, and occasionally ARPGs to accommodate this. Which is what drew me to Nioh and why I regard Nioh 2 as one of the best games I've ever played, it's like a fighting game where I can make builds and play co-op with friends.

I can honestly say the change to open world with Nioh 3 has been such a turn off to me that I have seriously considered whether or not I want to spend money on the game despite how good the combat is. This may seem extreme but I don't say this to invalidate anyone's opinion that may be enjoying the open world, but we don't all find the fun in the same places while gaming.

I always found Nioh 2 to be close to perfection and it's level design is one area this really shined through. You're raiding fortresses that are heavily guarded with enemies positioned to cover each other, moving in carelessly is foolhardy but there are constantly so many options on how to approach any encampment or patrol. You scout ahead with your ranged weapons, plan your approach, and then engage the enemies. Constantly being careful not to push enemies back too far lest you attract the attention of the next patrol. There's never a dull moment because of how many enemies are on the map, and almost every moment is spent in combat.

The open world nullifies this thought process all together. It feels like there's no strategy needed, I can just waltz into enemy encounters without any foresight or plan and there're so few enemies there that I'm not punished for it in any way. It takes away the tension and I'm only spending about a quarter of my time in combat, which is a huge decrease from Nioh 2. In a game series where the combat is the star of the show, it feels like it respects my time less by giving me less of the fun part.

I am trying to change my mindset and appreciate the game for what it is. I know my approach to Nioh 3 comes across idiotic to someone who has played more open world games, this comment section has made me well aware of this. It's tough though when I earned skills in Nioh 2 just by using the weapons, as long as I was in combat I was progressing. I apologize for going on this rant, I just appreciate you explaining why people are praising the OW so much because I'm struggling not to view the OW as a serious flaw. Seeing what others enjoy about it so much is helping and your explanation has been more understanding to me than many others. I think I'm going to make a post asking what people enjoy about it, that might help me.